In what could be a big boost for the Indian automotive industry, Toyota has reportedly decided to set up a Research and Development (R&D) facility in the country. The Japanese auto giant will be establishing the new R&D through its Indian subsidiary which has been operational for more than two and a half decades.
According to Bloomberg, this R&D centre will be located in Bengaluru close to Toyota’s manufacturing facility in Bidadi. The report says that this R&D facility will come into operation by 2027 and will be Toyota’s third such unit in the APAC region after Thailand and China. Toyota’s new R&D centre will generate employment to 2,000 workers, expanding operations with an additional 3,000 engineers over the next 2 years.
Initially catering to the demand of the Indian market, the R&D centre will eventually focus on the needs of the global automotive market. This could potentially turn India into the global hub for Toyota’s R&D and manufacturing. Going forward, this new R&D centre will focus on developing models for regions including the Middle East, East Asia, and Oceania.
Toyota studying Suzuki’s India R&D
Toyota will carefully analyze Suzuki’s R&D operations in Rohtak, one of India’s largest automotive engineering centers, employing approximately 3,000 people. As we all know, Toyota has forged a deep and fruitful partnership with Suzuki where the two Japanese automakers share platform and parts with each other which has led to the birth of models like Toyota Urban Cruiser HyRyder, Maruti Grand Vitara, Toyota Innova Hycross, and Maruti Invicto among other re-engineered models.
Toyota had previously considered establishing an R&D center in India in 2010. Now, it is strengthening its partnership with Suzuki to integrate R&D and product development. In fact, Toyota also holds a 5.4 percent stake in Suzuki. Toyota also wants to leverage its partnership with Suzuki to integrate both R&D and product development for the electric cars in India.
Maruti Suzuki will be launching the e Vitara— its first EV in India— in the coming few weeks. Toyota has already unveiled its own iteration of the e Vitara which goes by the name Urban Cruiser EV which broke cover last year. Like the e Vitara, the Urban Cruiser EV will be built at Suzuki’s Gujarat plant in India and will be exported to many international markets.
